Las Vegas Weekly

January 18, 2010 · 4:24 PM

Bette Midler donates to Haitian relief with Colosseum show

By Robin Leach

Pink, right, joins Bette Midler onstage at The Showgirl Must Go On in Caesars Palace.

Photo: Kirvin Doak Communications

Good deeds deserve great praise! Bette Midler really proved she is the Divine Miss M over the weekend when she began collecting donations from her Caesars Palace audience at The Colosseum and promised to match it 100 percent. The Saturday night gifts from her fans totaled more than $19,000. Bette kept her word, and $38,742 with her match was earmarked for Doctors Without Borders for Haiti’s earthquake victims.

Bette encouraged the audience to keep the devastated people of the Caribbean island nation in their thoughts as she sang “Wind Beneath My Wings.” Bette’s showgirls, affectionately known as the Caesar Salad Girls, took up the collections at the doors once the show was over.

The superstar singer was so overwhelmed by the generosity and caring hearts of her audience that she decided to go even one better. Now she has committed to match donations every night through her final performance Jan. 31, which will wrap her two-year-run of Las Vegas shows.

Now that’s proof that she’s a real hero and standup showbiz lady who put her own money where her mouth is. Bette, we salute you for your extraordinary generosity!

With only eight shows left before the curtains close on the spectacular The Showgirl Must Go On, everyone is clamoring to catch the show before it ends. Last night, our Congresswoman Shelly Berkley attended, as did former Peepshow headliner and Spice Girl Mel B, plus chart-topper Pink with husband Carey Hart. Pink surprised Bette with an impromptu duet of Bette’s beloved hit “The Rose.”

My spywitness reported: “Bette was speechless and truly surprised when Pink walked onstage and began singing. The two ladies embraced and swayed as they sang together.”

Incidentally, Carrot Top is another Strip star supporting the Haitian relief efforts. Also for the remainder of the month, he will be donating all of his merchandise sales to aid the Red Cross in Haiti.

“Watching the footage all week has had a profound effect on all of us,” Scott “Carrot Top” Thompson said. “The difficult thing with being so far away is feeling like you want to help but not knowing how. I’m happy to be able to do something to bolster the amazing effort that the Red Cross has already begun.”

Carrot Top merchandise can be purchased at the Atrium Theater, in retail outlets at the Luxor and at CarrotTop.com.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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